Confirmed Trade: [CGY/EDM] James Neal for Milan Lucic (12.5% retained) and a 2020 conditional 3rd round pick Part 2

[TheNumber4]

Flames are famous for ruining established vets. Like Jagr and now Neal. Neal will probably bounce back being centered by centers better than Monahan.

 

[Snakepit]

Flames are famous for ruining established vets. Like Jagr and now Neal. Neal will probably bounce back being centered by centers better than Monahan.

Lol yeah the Flames ruined Jagr, it had nothing at all to do with him not working out all summer then needing knee surgery

 

[Pointteen]

Flames are famous for ruining established vets. Like Jagr and now Neal. Neal will probably bounce back being centered by centers better than Monahan.

You're from a rather strange timeline. Tell me, did your people elect Hillary?

 

[TheNumber4]

Lol yeah the Flames ruined Jagr, it had nothing at all to do with him not working out all summer then needing knee surgery

The ageless wonder who put up record setting numbers and then boom onto the Flames, career done. And now Neal, consistent 20 goal + scorer his whole career, then boom onto the Flames, and he's healthy scratched and buy out fodder. The only constant here is the Flames.

 

[Seanaconda]

No way is he behind both of them for first powerplay. I suspect 3/4 of Oilers fans want him up there without even seeing him at training camp. His reputation and stats (assuming last year was wrong) impress us.
That's how much his shot means to us.
That's how bad our depth is.

Want a good chuckle? Go look at the Oilers Statistics for the 2019 season.

Idk he doesnt shoot the right way for our power play. It would be much better if he shot right to be the trigger man on the left side.

Like maybe they'll find a decent setup that works / maybe he takes nuges spot ? But atm I think we toss whoever has the best right hand shot on the power play on the left side still

 

[Soundwave]

The ageless wonder who put up record setting numbers and then boom onto the Flames, career done. And now Neal, consistent 20 goal + scorer his whole career, then boom onto the Flames, and he's healthy scratched and buy out fodder. The only constant here is the Flames.

Sometimes it's just not a fit. Troy Brouwer is another guy on the Flames ... averaged 20 goals/season for the three seasons prior to coming to Calgary, averaged 9.5 goals or something for the Flames.

 

[yzerman]

This Feels bad for Calgary imagine this deal a year ago, i think Neal could be a really good player in Edmonton not like he is nearly as bad as Lucic.

 

[Cup or Bust]

So you agree with me? I've already said all day that getting rid of the Lucic contract is a big win for Edmonton. I've just also said that people acting like adding Neal is some sort of victory or improvement need to temper their expectations

Almost any player is an improvement over Lucic skill wise at this point, so yes, he most likely will be a decent improvement over Lucic and will have a good opportunity to have some success on the Oilers. There is every reason to believe he will add more to the Oilers then Lucic did. Whether there is much potential remains to be seen, certainly more potential for Neal to be an effective offensive player then Lucic at this point, but the important thing is the Oilers have more flexibility now with Lucic and his contract gone.

 

[TheNumber4]

Sometimes it's just not a fit. Troy Brouwer is another guy on the Flames ... averaged 20 goals/season for the three seasons prior to coming to Calgary, averaged 9.5 goals or something for the Flames.

Oh yeh forgot about Brouwer. The Flames are the premier veteran free agent killers in the league. Pretty much just call it quits on your career if your a UFA and you sign with the Flames.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Honestly I don't think this is that bad for the Flames. They were obviously done with Neal and shed some money and cap by trading him. Then again there's the buyout aspect as Neal is easy to buy out in a year or two whereas buying out Lucic is essentially ineffective. Even if Neal bounces back I don't think the Flames feel much regret, he had enough time there to prove his worth and simply wasn't a fit. Excellent gamble by the Oilers though and as pointed out, they still have the buyout option they didn't have with Lucic if Neal busts with them.

Win for Edmonton in any case, short term win for Calgary but likely a loss in those last two years of Lucic contract.

 

[King1s]

Haha. Ahahahaha. Hahahahaha.

 

[Mac Attack]

Drai performs just as much with mcdavid as without this is an uninformed statement.

OK. That's why he spends most of his time in McDavid's wing right? "Drai is just as good driving his own line... That's why we won't have him regularly do it... It makes zero sense for a team to not have a guy centre his own line if he is just as good as when he is playing on McDavid's wing. Or are you just saying that he plays just as much on his own line as with Mcdavid? Cuz that's not true either.

 

[Seanaconda]

OK. That's why he spends most of his time in McDavid's wing right? "Drai is just as good driving his own line... That's why we won't have him regularly do it... It makes zero sense for a team to not have a guy centre his own line if he is just as good as when he is playing on McDavid's wing. Or are you just saying that he plays just as much on his own line as with Mcdavid? Cuz that's not true either.

I think they could both carry their own lines if our wingers weren't junk .

Maybe some of the guys we picked up end up being half decent but till proven otherwise we still only have 3 good top 6 forwards .

Like last year what were his most common wingers at center lucic and rieder or something ?

 

[NORiculous]

Have no idea why CGY does this trade unless the fresh start helps Lucic...

As for Neal. 20 goals+ seems like a doable possibility. It could actually even be 25+ if everything goes perfectly.

Great job Edm. This could be the one that removes the anchor and finally turns things around.

I predict Neal gets almost 2015-2016 numbers with 28g 51 pts

 

[Hatrix]

OK. That's why he spends most of his time in McDavid's wing right? "Drai is just as good driving his own line... That's why we won't have him regularly do it... It makes zero sense for a team to not have a guy centre his own line if he is just as good as when he is playing on McDavid's wing. Or are you just saying that he plays just as much on his own line as with Mcdavid? Cuz that's not true either.

All these excuses. No mention of RNH that had a 70 point season centering the second line. Why split up 2x 100+point players to force Nuge into a position he's doesn't naturally play?

 

[Mazatt]

Highly doubt Neal bounces back. He wasn't able to keep up with Monny and Johnny I don't know how he's going to keep up with McDavid. Trade is a lot more even then people give it credit for. Lucic makes less in cap hit and in real money now, fills a hole in the Flames line-up with physicality they were sorely lacking while Neal has a chance to be the top guy he wanted to be in Calgary and a scorer that Edmonton needs.

 

[Soundwave]

Neal only played like 8% of his ES time with Gaudreau ... no offence to the Flames but they really don't have a high end playmaker/creator outside of Gaudreau.

Monahan doesn't really play that game, neither do Backlund or Bennett. Jankowski has like 26 career assists.

Edmonton is just probably a way better fit. All of McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH want to pass first.

 

[kris]

Highly doubt Neal bounces back. He wasn't able to keep up with Monny and Johnny I don't know how he's going to keep up with McDavid. Trade is a lot more even then people give it credit for. Lucic makes less in cap hit and in real money now, fills a hole in the Flames line-up with physicality they were sorely lacking while Neal has a chance to be the top guy he wanted to be in Calgary and a scorer that Edmonton needs.

He legit rarely played with those two.

Neal's not gonna light the world on fire, but he's a significant upgrade over Lucic. Forget McDavid, he probably slots in on the second line with RNH with a bit of PP time.

He is slow but he was very much snakebitten in Calgary. Not a Flames fan but watched a lot of games and he showed some occasional flashes, hit some posts, etc. 15-20 goals next year isn't a stretch. No chance Lucic could do that. He's a dinosaur that doesn't belong anywhere in a teams top 9, and probably nowhere in the lineup.

I get that Neal didn't fit but taking on four years of a declining Lucic without any major retention or sweetener is a terrible idea no matter how you spell it. Not sure why the Flames help out their rival lol

 

[King1s]

I feel sorry for Flames fans but at the same time I am laughing at all of those people who told that moving Lucic would cost 1st+Pulju and we wouls have to retain 50% to do that. Ahahaha.

 

[Not Canada Drai]

 

[Scott Stevens]

All these excuses. No mention of RNH that had a 70 point season centering the second line. Why split up 2x 100+point players to force Nuge into a position he's doesn't naturally play?

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has as many 70 point seasons as Brian Bellows has 100 point ones.

 

[Mazatt]

He legit rarely played with those two.

Neal's not gonna light the world on fire, but he's a significant upgrade over Lucic. Forget McDavid, he probably slots in on the second line with RNH with a bit of PP time.

He is slow but he was very much snakebitten in Calgary. Not a Flames fan but watched a lot of games and he showed some occasional flashes, hit some posts, etc. 15-20 goals next year isn't a stretch. No chance Lucic could do that. He's a dinosaur that doesn't belong anywhere in a teams top 9, and probably nowhere in the lineup.

I get that Neal didn't fit but taking on four years of a declining Lucic without any major retention or sweetener is a terrible idea no matter how you spell it. Not sure why the Flames help out their rival lol

Surprisingly Lucic is an upgrade on Neal for the Flames. Neal's going to get points but he got his time with Guadreau and Monahan, he just did jack shit to keep that role, same with when he got time with Tkachuk and Backlund, he didn't help and was more of a hinderance with top 6 minutes. He's gonna improve in Edmonton, but he wasn't going to in Calgary. We also save 500k for signing Tkachuk in this deal. See, Lucic can put up points like Neal did in our bottom 6, but the difference is he plays for the team instead of looking for his goals or points. Lucic will throw his body on the line while Neal won't even put his stick on the ice in overtime. This aint about helping our rival it's about cap space and getting a player that fits our needs more.

 

[Seanaconda]

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has as many 70 point seasons as Brian Bellows has 100 point ones.

A 69 point season is hilarious so he stopped scoring. But it's close enough we can prob round up to 70 and not feel too dishonest .

 

[Scott Stevens]

A 69 point season is hilarious so he stopped scoring. But it's close enough we can prob round up to 70 and not feel too dishonest .

I’m just funning on bellows’ 99 point career year

 

[Seanaconda]

I’m just funning on bellows’ 99 point career year

A tribute to gretz . Nice guy stopped at a cool number too.